Benjamin Hawriluk

Originally from New York, Ben studied history, Asian studies, and foreign languages at Rice University before moving to Montana. Taking an unconventional path through school, he studied over a year and a half in Jordan and spent five months in Peru and Russia. After graduation, he worked as an Arabic linguist and research analyst and later trained EMTs. For his MPA internship, Ben worked as an International Economics Intern at the U.S. Department of Treasury in the Office of International Affairs in Washington. At SPIA and beyond, he aims to better understand evidence-based methods to reduce poverty and increase wellbeing and how to actualize them. He is committed to learning the lessons from rigorous randomized controlled trials in development and working to apply them to a career in the domestic nonprofit, international development, or research space. In his free time, Ben likes reading, alpine hiking, attempting to ski, trying (usually unsuccessfully) to solve boulder problems, and finding ways (usually successfully) to eat Margherita pizza.